There's a marked difference between evolution and Evolution, I think that's where most of the uncertainty arises.
I agree with you, Satch, in that we can influence Evolution. We have done so using domestic animals, and continue to due so today on a regular basis, using selective breeding. The problem is that it is rather more difficult to control the breeding habits of the entire population of the earth - while it would be nice to say that the intelligent and socially adept of us succeed in life, succeeding in life isn't necessarily proportional to breeding success. Indeed, I know there are a lot of people who are worried about the fact that the "bottom feeding, good for nothing 12-child welfare families are the ones that are breeding like rabbits, and that the intelligent, university educated professionals are doing so at a much slower rate. As you say, our actions are influencing the kind of person who succeeds, the kind of person who survives, the kind of person who lives long enough to procreate, but I think it is wrong to say that we are "influencing our evolution". Rather, we are influencing the environment and the requisites for the continuation of specific genes, which is of course then changing the direction of our evolution. You could even say that to a certain extent we are killing "evolution", or at the very least preventing our species from developing in a positive manner, given the fact that it is no longer the smartest, strongest and most able that survive to procreate. By advancing medicine, by showing compassion, and allowing "defective" genes to continue, we are in essence dirtying out own gene pool.
Where am I going with this? I don't know, I have a habit of getting distracted :P
Evolution and evolution. "Evolution", the capitalised term, is the gradual process which maps the overall process of Natural Selection (or, indeed, unnatural, manmade selection), and defines how a species grows and changes over time to adapt to its environment and the constraints therein. This is different to evolution, which is a word in the English language meaning how something can evolve in any sense, like the evolution of the gaming console, or the evolution of an idea. They have similarities, but there are aspects of evolution that aren't contained within Evolution, if that makes sense.
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